Four Interchanges To Come Up On Bangalore's Peripheral Ring Road: 71 Acres Of Land To Be Acquired

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has issued a public notice confirming its plan to acquire approximately 71 acres of land for the construction of four interchanges along the proposed 74-km long Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). The acquisition process has been revived after a two-year pause, with the Congress-led government showing renewed interest in the long-pending project.

While the BDA had issued a preliminary notification over two years ago, it is now moving forward with the acquisition process as the Congress-led government shows renewed interest in the long-pending project.

In the public notice, the BDA has requested 258 property owners to present their land records to prove ownership or raise objections to the land acquisition.

The preliminary notification for the 71 acres of land, intended for building cloverleaf interchanges at Tumakuru Road, Ballari Road, Old Madras Road, and Hosur Road, was issued in April 2022. This notice comes about 17 years after the BDA issued the final notification for the acquisition of 1,810 acres of land for the 72-km PRR project, but farmers are still awaiting compensation.

In April 2022, the BDA issued a preliminary notification for a total of 750 acres of land but did not complete the acquisition formalities due to a lack of clarity from the government regarding the Rs 27,000-crore project.

The PRR project, initially estimated to cost Rs 21,000 crore, has ballooned to Rs 27,000 crore due to a law that requires the BDA to pay more for taking people's land. The project's revised plan includes 17 toll booths and innovative cloverleaf junctions at strategic points like Old Madras Road and Airport Road.

With nine entry and exit points, including flyovers, underpasses, and railway overbridges, the PRR aims to alleviate traffic congestion that has plagued Bangalore for years.

However, it remains uncertain whether the project will see the light of day, as there have been no bidders so far. The BDA wants the winning bidder to pay for everything upfront and also wants to collect tolls for 50 years and control advertising along the road.